for 18 years, michelle has been involved in helping children become their best. right out of college, she became a teacher with teach for america, a in one of the poorest communities in baltimore. the achievement levels were low due to violence, poor nutrition and other obstacles, but michelle and other teachers worked hard to help the kids do better. >> what we found was that when we put the extra time in with these kids and we worked with them before school, after school, on weekends, gave them two hours of homework a night, that they were able to achieve at the highest levels. so what that convinced me of is that if we really want to fix public education in this country, then we have to create the right environment for kids. >> baltimore, michelle says, proved to be a life changing experience. she eventually took on the difficult task of becoming the chancellor of the troubled public schools in washington. >> when i was the chancellor in washington d.c., i made the commitment that i was going to run the district as a mom. and as a mom who put her kids in the d